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CENTRIFUGAL PATTERNS AND MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION OF BULL SPERMATOZOA

Summary.: Bull spermatozoa were centrifuged on various density gradients in a zonal centrifuge rotor. Depending on the relative osmolality and viscosity of the gradients, the rates of sedimentation of the spermatozoa varied, but the distribution of the cells in all gradients followed a similar pattern. The distributions showed a single mode and a skewness towards faster-sedimenting cells. The morphology of cell fractions separated by centrifugation was examined by immunofluoresence microscopy. A significantly greater proportion of cells had lost the acrosome in faster, as compared with slower, fractions. Acrosome degeneration and loss are known to be indicators of cell senescence. Therefore, it is considered that centrifugation of bull spermatozoa on density gradients results in a distribution which reflects the age of the cells. The natural heterogeneity in samples of ejaculated spermatozoa was reduced by treatment with detergent. Detergent treatment of spermatozoa altered the centrifugation pattern to a near normal distribution.